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Am I getting cheated by the bodyshop ?

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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 20:42   #11
ITSv40
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I tend to agree, the dealers and big garages for sure have their issues just as you mentioned. Everything is rushed at these places I heard that too.

Ok it seems the consensus is what the guy told me is nothing unusual .


Now there is one thing I have just thought about. Because of the accident, the turnlights on the other side got slightly misaligned with the body, it's no longer flush with the wing. I noticed it was still the case last week although my understanding was that he had straightened out everything. To me, fixing that particular misalignment required replacing the slam panel on which the lights are bolted. How is he going to correct this misalignment if he doesn't change the panel but cut it and weld ?

The indicator lights are bolted to the headlight and two pegs slot into holes in the front wing so nothing to do with the slam panel. If the slam panel is out of line on the opposite side the headlamp will also be out of line - without the bumper on it would be difficult to see if that is not lining up correctly
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 21:59   #12
canis
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Now there is one thing I have just thought about. Because of the accident, the turnlights on the other side got slightly misaligned with the body, it's no longer flush with the wing. I noticed it was still the case last week although my understanding was that he had straightened out everything. To me, fixing that particular misalignment required replacing the slam panel on which the lights are bolted. How is he going to correct this misalignment if he doesn't change the panel but cut it and weld ?
Wait... I'm confused. The old panel needs to be cut off, of course. Are you saying he's only cutting half of it off? I'd replace the entire slam panel if it was me, since it's length (width of the car) is a guaranteed known quantity and can't be wrong.
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Old Dec 10th, 2018, 22:39   #13
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Wait... I'm confused. The old panel needs to be cut off, of course. Are you saying he's only cutting half of it off? I'd replace the entire slam panel if it was me, since it's length (width of the car) is a guaranteed known quantity and can't be wrong.
Yes he cut about half of the panel (more like a third, the damaged side). See pic with marks (from memory, not sure where he cut on the top part).
As you know on these Volvo, the panel is actually welded -to the beams holding the wings and other stuff- at the factory, not bolted. The proper way to replace it in its entirety is by a process of removing the welds, installing new panel and redo the original welds . But he cut the panel just where the bracket for the light is and will weld a cut out piece taken from the other. So he doesn't have to remove the radiator, the lights on the other side and what not (which takes a couple hours ).

But what is going to fix the other side sticking out ? The car chassis (structure) is fine btw
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File Type: jpg slam panel.JPG (51.4 KB, 71 views)

Last edited by V40addict; Dec 10th, 2018 at 22:59.
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Old Dec 11th, 2018, 02:30   #14
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Presumably he'll pull that side over to where it belongs. I'm wondering how he can get the geometry right though. I'd change the entire panel.
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Old Dec 14th, 2018, 14:22   #15
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The guy agreed - reluctantly- to install the slam panel I provided. That was after I brought up the misalignment on the other side. I thought I had mentioned it when I brought the car but apparently he was not aware of this issue, said he had not looked at that side yet.

That's worrisome since the appraiser hired by the insurance company could spot such problems instantly, even saw an unnoticeable misalignment of the bumper at the rear resulting of my backing up against a pole (without consequence I thought).

So he's going to do the work but it will take some more time...

Now I was wondering how many coolant hoses needed to be disconnected/reconnected during the panel replacement, because I think I'd better check those afterwards, especially the big one that this forum advises to fix.

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Old Dec 21st, 2018, 22:38   #16
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I got the car back today...

I suspected there would be problems, perhaps that he would still do it his way despite what he had said.
btw I called another bodyshop I had contacted earlier (weren't too interested in the job and were fully booked) they confirmed
changing the entire panel is the logical, best thing, to do)

And that's what happened. I immediately saw something was fishy because he had painted the top of the slam bar (why?). Then since I have an eye for details it was confirmed he had done the cut and weld thing. First problem I noticed was he put coating that can be seen on the back of the part where he welded, in addition paint was sprayed on another part (the horn ?).

So like discussed earlier I argued that I should not pay the agreed 14 hours (now 15 according to him, just because I had said OK for about 15 hours work to round it up).


But he wouldn't hear it said he couldn't stand this argument, said no payment no car (he would sell it in pieces) and became very threatening, said he was going to punch me in the face. That he couldn't hold it. "Any second now" he would go and I "wouldn't see it coming". Guy is short but seemed to me like a bit a of a bodybuilder, I recorded all the **** he was yelling and told him to stop threatening me but as you know that's not necessarily the best thing to say "Any second now" he said again. I told him to calm down as I always try to avoid fighting, and that I would pay him 10 hours (I reckon he saved at least 3 hours, he didn't do what was agreed to, and besides I didn't have use of the car for one month I said it was way too much). He eventually accepted just to see me go away.


But I am glad I did that, because later at a stop on the way home I saw the bumper and lights were very poorly fitted (I didnt look closely at the shop, car was parked outside in front of stuff and the day was coming to an end). I will have to have this corrected if that is at all possible. How would you fix this problem ? See the picture below. The problem appears to be
on the turn signal side, the bumper is fine (not deformed I believe), the turn signal and the way it's clipped in the light, doesn't appear to be parallel with the rest. And there is a gap between the bumper and the light to the point you can even see some metal from the slam bar behind, so I am going to get water infiltration there.
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File Type: jpg bumper.JPG (56.1 KB, 54 views)
File Type: jpg bumper2.JPG (52.7 KB, 49 views)

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Old Jan 17th, 2019, 14:19   #17
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A host of issues became apparent since I got my car back. The wheel arch accident size needed to be replaced as it was cracked. Accordingly I had sourced a wheel arch for a few quids, but he never installed it. He said he lost it as he made room in his junkyard . Also, the turnlight signal on the wing was not even connected , neither is the side light on the bumper.

He agreed reluctantly to install a wheel arch as "a goodwill gesture" for a customer, after I called him repeatedly (at first he hung up on me). That was after a lot of arguing, the guy is full of it, one minute he would present himself as my savior who did everything he could to put the car back on the road, or the poor worker whose pay I had unilaterally "reduced" (and that's why he didn't do such a good job in the first place, i.e. like he's psychic), the next he would call me names and promise to track me down to give me a new face as I was "ruining his life" (after I told him he should stop threatening me otherwise this goes to court/police). He's of italian origin so the whole thing was funny but sometimes not so.


So now he told me he had a wheel arch that he would install, and after that he said he doesn't want to have anything to do with me, and he hasn't agreed to fix the lights (no reply to my text about it) . That's a bigger job I think, how much time would it take for a pro to do it ? I am not sure I want to argue with this guy and try and force him to do the lights. He didn't install two plastic deflectors bolted to the slam panel along side the radiator , behind the grille, I thought this was mainly to prevent water from getting in the area of the lights but a mechanic told me it's to facilitate airflow to the rad. The body shop guy said he didn't reinstall them because they serve no purpose and it would be a hell of a job to resinstall them now ! That I am going to have done elsewhere as those plastics have been thrown away of course according to him. Is it worth reinstalling those plastics ?

Last edited by V40addict; Jan 17th, 2019 at 15:00.
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Old Jan 17th, 2019, 18:26   #18
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Your problem is you paid for it and now any redress is with the arsenhole who bodged it.

Mate of mine had a body shop, customer came to him after an insurance repair as he wore rear tyres in 4k miles, swift bit of investigation revealed the car was still bent on one side. Can you do it says customer, I'm not going back to the muppets. Car was a 3 door escorts mk2, turned out the repair shop had cut 3/4 of an inch off the front edge of the new quarter pannel to make the wheel arch line up with the wheel instead of pulling the chassis. Over £400 the repair of the repair came to and that was overy 30 years ago.

Either buy pickaxe handles or cut your losses as it seems you are not going to get anywhere with the bodger, and I would not be letting him loose on my car again in your position.

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Old Jan 20th, 2019, 14:39   #19
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I am going to another back alley garage (much more reliable person) to reinstall plastic deflectors behind the grille and hopefully fix the mess of the turn signal. I can see how water getting in from the grille can rust parts in the engine compartment, the welds he did on the slam panel already have some superficial spots of rust (even though there is thick coat of I don't know what ).

While I was looking at that , I discovered another botched job. Remember I mentioned there was misalignment between turn signal and wing on the right side (opposite accident side). And he said he "had not looked at that yet" after he had started working on the car. Well what he did to fix that is making new holes for the right side light so he could move the whole light assembly a quarter inch to the center and correct the misalignment ! Meanwhile of course the slam panel, (i.e. the original slam panel to which he welded a piece from another) is still crooked relative to the wing, any expert will spot that right away, even if for me it took until today.

How can someone in the trade work that way , how is this possible ? Not only does it make no sense to spend time doing all these things vs changing the part ( I know now what the guy meant by his "adjustments"), but it 's simply not giving a **** about doing a good job.

Last edited by V40addict; Jan 20th, 2019 at 14:49.
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Old Jan 20th, 2019, 15:10   #20
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And btw I am not one to be easily fooled. I contacted 5 body shops and quickly understood none of the established places wanted to work with salvaged parts.
With new Volvo parts, the repairs amounted to £3500 + , insurance payout was nowhere near that amount. There was only one shop who actually made an offer, £ 1400 flat just for labor, I had to provide the parts. But that guy who sounded honest and all, didn't really impress me, wouldn't give much detail of what he was going to do (I will push here and there, will try to straighten here blah blaH) . At that price it also amounted to £100 an hour for the estimated 14 hours of work (actually more like 12 at the beginning).

So I gave this guy working out of his backyard a chance, he sounded very professional and showed me all his equipment, pictures of his work , and I saw lots of cars coming to his shop.

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